In its fifth year, the Salem Arts fest hosted a record number of artists and artisans, and pioneered new ways of getting visitors actively involved in the creation of art.

“It’s hard to tell on exact numbers of attendees, but we estimate thousands attended all of our events this weekend,” said Matthew Caruso, acting manager of Salem Main Streets. “For the first time, we had an art room in the Museum Place Mall where attendees collaborated on a giant paper mache octopus, that will eventually hang permanently in the Salem Collective for Artists and Musicians.”

The event brings together musical performances, a juried art show and other cultural events. One such event also making its debut this year was “Get to the Point: Neighborhood Narratives.”

“It was an opportunity for youth from the Point neighborhood to tell their stories and involve their community in the festival,” Caruso said. “Participants made postcards with stories and pictures of a special place in their neighborhood, and we displayed the postcards on a map of the Point at the Old Town Hall.”

Festivities began on Friday with a gala reception that featured refreshments, bands and hula hoops. It was attended by over 100 people, despite poor weather.

“We had some challenges this year; there was the construction on Essex Street, which the city really did their best to keep to a minimum, and there was also the weather,” Caruso said. “In fact, on Friday night, we weren’t even sure we would be able to have outdoor music performances on Saturday. Luckily, it all worked out, and we were able to have bands at Derby Square and the Fountain stage.”

In all, Caruso was pleased with how the community, and even surrounding art aficionados, came together to create the event.

“Since I am the acting manager, this year it was crucial that we had a tight, close-knit group of volunteers that worked hard to make sure the event came together,” Caruso said. “One example is, on Friday, we still didn’t have panels in the Old Town Hall on which to hang art. At the last minute, our friends at the Marblehead Festival of Arts were able to loan us panels. It was a great example of people working together to make the weekend happen.”